Deck 3: The Dilemma of American Federalism

Question 1

One of the important features of the American system is the idea that the states are laboratories of democracy.What does this concept mean? Explain how this has been vital for the United States.

Answer 1

Students' answers may vary.

Question 2

What is new federalism?

Answer 2

Students' answers may vary.
New federalism is the attempt by President Richard Nixon to weaken the power of liberal political lobbies in Washington and reverse the trend toward centralization of authority and control in Washington by placing more power, monies, and responsibility for government programs in the hands of the states.

Question 3

Dual federalism died in the United States as a result of the Great Depression.Explain how we shifted away from dual federalism.

Answer 3

Students' answers may vary.

Question 4

What is a matching grant?

Question 5

What is the theory of nullification?

Question 6

Under dual federalism

A)the states and the national government are seen as partners.
B)the national and state governments have separate spheres of power.
C)the laws of the national government are not necessarily supreme in conflicts involving concurrent powers.
D)grants from the federal government to the states are the main vehicles for implementing domestic policies.

Question 7

What are grants-in-aid?

Question 8

There are three types of power built into the notion of dual federalism.Name and explain each of these.Give specific examples of each power.

Question 9

What do we mean when we say intergovernmental relations?

Question 10

What is the theory of dual federalism?

Question 11

The Constitution

A)is very clear about the relationship between the state and national governments.
B)leaves primary sovereignty in the hands of the state governments.
C)is full of imprecise language about the relationship between the state and national governments.
D)is completely silent about the nature of federalism.

Question 12

In the Constitution, the powers that are granted exclusively to the national government are called

A)reserved powers.
B)enumerated powers.
C)original powers.
D)concurrent powers.

Question 13

Explain the differences between enumerated, reserved, and concurrent powers.

Question 14

Over 90 percent of all the nations in the world are governed by

A)unitary systems.
B)confederations.
C)parliamentary democracies.
D)dual federalism.

Question 15

What is the Supremacy Clause in the Constitution?

Question 16

What is the theory of devolution?

Question 17

Describe unitary government.

Question 18

Explain the constitutional feature of federalism.What argument did James Madison make to defend it? How is this different from unitary government, the form of more than 90 percent of all countries in the world today?

Question 19

Explain the difference between categorical grants, block grants, general revenue sharing, and unfunded mandates.

Question 20

All powers not given to the national government are reserved to the states in the

A)Tenth Amendment.
B)Supremacy Clause.
C)First Amendment.
D)Necessary and Proper Clause.

Question 21

The strategy of bypassing state and city governments and giving federal grants directly to community organizations was a feature of

A)FDR's cooperative federalism.
B)LBJ's creative federalism.
C)Nixon's revenue sharing.
D)Reagan's new federalism.

Question 22

If you were a state or local official interested in maintaining as much control over a policy as possible, which grant program would you prefer?

A)Block grant
B)Categorical grant
C)Revenue sharing
D)Grant-in-aid

Question 23

The federal grants with the strictest requirements and most specific objectives are

A)block grants.
B)revenue sharing.
C)federal subsidies for the arts.
D)categorical grants.

Question 24

Which of the following is NOT true of the viewpoint of popular democrats toward federalism?

A)They favor decentralization when it enhances popular participation in politics.
B)They believe in setting limits on what local majorities can do.
C)They are concerned that many state and local governments are dominated by elites.
D)They favor decentralization because states have roughly the same level of resources and capacities.

Question 25

In what ways does local government create inequalities?

A)By allowing more participation in voting
B)By allowing minorities to develop areas how they want
C)By passing zoning laws that favor the upper classes
D)By bringing economic revival to the city's poor black neighborhoods.

Question 26

President Reagan

A)usually supported federal preemption of state regulatory powers.
B)usually vetoed laws containing federal preemption provisions.
C)praised federal preemption measures for increasing the authority of the national government.
D)never had to deal with the issue of preemption because the Supreme Court had ruled it to be unconstitutional.

Question 27

Richard Nixon's new federalism

A)tried to reshape government but not really to shrink it.
B)increased the role of Washington, D.C.in domestic policymaking.
C)was designed to mobilize poor blacks.
D)eliminated general revenue-sharing programs.

Question 28

In the second-half of the nineteenth century, the power of the states to regulate business was

A)limited by constitutional amendment.
B)expanded by the Supreme Court.
C)limited by the Supreme Court.
D)expanded by congressional action.

Question 29

Which nineteenth-century chief justice of the Supreme Court was instrumental in extending the powers of the national government?

A)John Jay
B)Roger Taney
C)Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
D)John Marshall.

Question 30

Which of the following was NOT among the fears of the Anti Federalists about the new U.S.Constitution?

A)Its vague language would be construed so as to favor national authority.
B)The Supreme Court would favor national authority.
C)The Necessary and Proper Clause would be used to extend foreign power.
D)Equal representation of the states in the Senate would undercut state influence.

Question 31

Dual federalism prevailed in American politics until which reform period?

A)Great Society
B)New Deal
C)Reconstruction
D)Progressive era

Question 32

The authors of the text believe that

A)elite democrats are caught in a dilemma of federalism.
B)there may be ways popular democrats can escape from the dilemma of federalism.
C)the dilemma of federalism is inevitable and inescapable.
D)the dilemma of federalism has been exaggerated.

Question 33

Franklin D.Roosevelt's successful solution to the "dilemma of dual federalism" was to

A)pack the Supreme Court with justices sympathetic to the New Deal.
B)bypass the states with direct federal programs.
C)use grants-in-aid that combined federal funding and state administration.
D)propose the use of block grants for federal services.

Question 34

Popular democrats are more in favor of

A)nonpartisan municipal elections.
B)partisan municipal elections.
C)unrestrained business competition.
D)none of the above.

Question 35

President Clinton

A)announced that a new era of big government had begun.
B)joined the movement to decentralize programs to the states.
C)attacked the devolution revolution.
D)introduced general revenue sharing.

Question 36

The doctrine of nullification argues that

A)the federal government can negate state laws.
B)the states have no constitutional rights.
C)the states can refuse to obey any federal law they deem to be unconstitutional.
D)the states can refuse to obey any federal laws.

Question 37

The creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the passing of the Patriot Act under the Bush Administration demonstrated

A)that President Bush wanted to shrink the size of the federal government.
B)that President Bush wanted to enhance state power.
C)examples of dual federalism.
D)President Bush's desire to expand federal power to fit his conservative ideology.